Geocahe File Reality

[+JohnnyVegas]

For those that feel they need to have 500 or even 1000 waypoints loaded into a single GPS geocache file.

 

How many caches have those of you ever found in one day?

 

And why do you feel you need to have 500-1000 caches loaded up for a days worth of geocaching?

Edited December 2, 2005 by JohnnyVegas

[+Stunod]

I load 2500+ caches into MS Streets and Trips to map out caches within about an hours drive of my home. I can then see clusters that I might want to hunt. Just because I get a GPX file doesn't mean it gets loaded directly into my GPS

[+flask]

i need a couple thousand caches loaded because i might have some uninterrupted days to cache in which i go wherever the spirit moves me.

 

this means that i might leave the house on wednesday morning and return tuesday night, living in my car and traveling a thousand miles or so, and i'm not certain where i'll be.

 

i may only find nine caches in a day, but suppose i find them on the maine coast and in the lakes region in NH,

 

or, as on a weekend recently, i woke up in utica NY, went to plattsburgh and then to lake clear, caching along the way.

 

or, as in last week, wednesday i was in lebanon NH. thursday i was iin brattleboro VT. friday i was in old forge NY. saturday i was in ithaca NY, whereabouts i stayed until tuesday.

 

i have a kind of, uh, chaotic navigational style and without the total freedom to suddenly jump over a state or two my caching experience would be diminished.

 

so i load up a thousand or so waypoints even though i'll only use a couple dozen. the trick is that i never know in what state those dozen will be.

[bogleman]

SOB, man I have trouble with 20. TMI - KISS. The best I have done was 13. I punch the numbers in, find the cache (or try) then delete the numbers.

[+Renegade Knight]

In any given week I can be in any of 5 or 6 metro areas. Rather than mess with loading and unloading waypoints for each area I'd rather do it once in a sitting and not mess with it again until the next time I refresh my coods. For that 2500-3000 is a minimum and 1000 is nicer than 500 but still falls short.

 

In other words. Simplicity. It's not about finding all the caches but the one I'm closest too when I have a chance.

[+The Leprechauns]

Freedom. The best thing about lotsa pocket queries and waypoints is that you're not restricted to a preplanned route. Sure, on most days I won't hit all 500 or even make a dent, but I like just starting out and wandering aimlessly from cache to cache, never having to worry about getting "out of range" of my query.

 

For each of my two Woodstock trips, I *really* needed a GPS with 1000 waypoints. But I got by through having one for the trip there, and a second one for the area where the event was held, and then borrowing a laptop computer to reload my GPS. On a roadtrip like Woodstock it is easy to find 300 or more caches in a long weekend.

[+webscouter.]

Today I drove to Trenton Missouri, then Columbia Missouri, then Olathe Kansas. On a normal day I would have stopped and found 3 or 4. I covered 440 miles. Tomorrow I will be in Lenexa Kansas, Ottawa Kansas and Emporia Kansas. These will put me 120 miles to the west from my house. I will grab another 4 or 5 caches. So in two days I have been 80 miles north of my house, 126 east of my house and 120 west of my house. When I first started caching this would have barely been covered by 1000 caches.

 

That is why I like 1000 caches on my gps

[+Team Perks]

My answer is simple.

 

I know I'll never find 'em all...but I like to think that one of these days I just might succeed.

[+robert]

This past weekend I went to an area that was very cache dense... 500 caches covered about 18-20 miles. I loaded all 500 because who knows which way we'd go? Next nearest... next nearest... next nearest. We don't usually plan which caches we're going to do, just kind of drop ourselves in the middle of it and go.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

On my last trip to California (for my grandfather's 100th birthday) I set one PQ for my sister's house in Redondo Beach. Even limiting it to 2/2 caches or less, the radius went out less than 20 miles. If you know anything about L.A. at all you know it isn't a small place. Most of the time I spent there I was outside of the area I downloaded caches for.

I also knew I'd be visiting North San Diego County, so I did another PQ for that area (since my Legend holds 1000 waypoints). The radius was about the same, but we ended up driving down to San Diego and spent the day there before going to the airport.

Number of caches found this trip: 0

 

I could have easily downloaded a second PQ for San Diego itself, combining the two in GSAK with a polygon filter of the areas I expected to visit. I also could have downloaded another PQ for L.A. and filtered again by the area I expected to visit. For the drive between L.A. and San Diego, I could have done another query for Orange County that could have been filtered by distance from I-5 so I would have a few caches to find on the drive south.

Total number of caches I should have downloaded: 2500 (5 pocket queries)

 

Since I limited myself to 1000 caches in the PQ's instead of getting extra and filtering down, and I ended up outside of the area I thought I would be visiting, I didn't find any caches.

[+BVCY Swim]

I just load the caches within 2 miles of the route I'll be taking. The route is set on the caches I intend to find in Delorme Street Atlas and then the route is imported into GSAK for filtering purposes. Filtering a smaller number of caches allows GPXsonar to load much faster in my PocketPC. I rarely "cache-on-the-fly" and plan all my hunts, so too many caches are overkill for me ... your mileage my vary of course

[+wandererrob]

I do it and then keep my GPSr in the truck. That way if I'm going somewhere I can see what's nearby then check on them quick online to see if they are still viable.

 

For me it's just a way of keeping the info handy while I'm out and about and not for a day's caching, but rather for the next couple of weeks or so.

[robertlipe]

Your opening question is a little leading, JV. It's not necessarily about how many you can find in one day. (My best day solo was 65. In a group, I've done 130 in a day.) It's about how many you have the opportunity to hunt before you're next at a computer.

 

As a practical matter, the Magellans with SD let you have 200 "no excuses" waypoints. (It's actually less than that if you expect DirectRoute to work sensibly.) In cache-rich areas, that may be a circle with a radius of as little as 4 or 5 miles. If you start the day with a plan of emptying that circle and you're not roaming between files, the bank switching thing is OK. But if you're using your GPS to mark your finds by deleting them as you go, the Magellan bank switching thing falls down very badly.

 

For example, when caching in Silicon Valley a few months ago, my Magellan totally melted. Being able to have all 600 caches or so that I carried with me for several days of power caching meant I always could see my unfounds on the map so I could know which way to go instead of flipping them in and out and trying to decide if Santa Clara or Mtn View was riper territory of unfounds from where I was standing in Sunnyvale.

 

For power cachers, those travelling long distances with fuzzy plans, or those in cache rich areas, 200 at a time really isn't enough.

 

I've never found the 1000 offered by my 60 to be restrictive. Just last weekend, I did bump into the 500 limit on another GPS, though, that didn't have the switching.

[+Jhwk]

Why do you ask?

 

Afraid I'm waisting all the precious bandwidth getting my PQ updates when I'm headed to one of my 11 frequent travel stops?

 

That's like asking why I have nearly all of the US maps and topo maps loaded into my Maggie. When this came up before, I gave the same answer

 

Because I can.

 

 

{and no, I don't get a max # of PQ's each day - I just pick the ones I need}

[JohnX]

Believe it or not, I have one GOTO waypoint in my GPS for caching. Yes, I shamelessy print out cache pages and enter the coordinates in the field. How in the world people can track hundreds of caches in their GPS is beyond me. Is it a puzzle cache? A micro? Terrain 4? Yes, you can goto the nearest cache, but then try and figure out what you are looking for.

 

Many of the local cachers consider me very strange because of my one waypoint method. But considering the location on the "strange scale" of most cachers, I figure it kicks me way back into the "normal" range for the general population.

[+Miragee]

I use the "smart name" feature of GSAK so it puts the cache name, as well as the type of cache (Multi, Virtual, or Traditional) and the size (Regular, Micro, or Small) on my GPSr. In the Description portion of my GPSr, I also get the Difficulty and Terrain rating.

 

I also have all that info in my Palm M500, but sometimes don't have to look at the Palm unless I can't find the cache and need the hint. I often don't know where I'm going to end up, so I need lots of waypoints in the GPSr and even more in the Palm, just in case . . .

 

I rarely use my printer now so I don't have to replace the ink cartridges. They are expensive . . .

[+StarBrand]

Just convenience seems to be the answer given by most.

 

I guess I am just a bit too old fashioned - I just load up the area I am heading toward filtered for types I generally do. If I pass one by because it wasn't loaded up, oh well.

 

I guess it just bugs some people more than others.

[+robert]

Believe it or not, I have one GOTO waypoint in my GPS for caching. Yes, I shamelessy print out cache pages and enter the coordinates in the field. How in the world people can track hundreds of caches in their GPS is beyond me. Is it a puzzle cache? A micro? Terrain 4? Yes, you can goto the nearest cache, but then try and figure out what you are looking for.

 

Many of the local cachers consider me very strange because of my one waypoint method. But considering the location on the "strange scale" of most cachers, I figure it kicks me way back into the "normal" range for the general population.

GSAK with a 60CS can be a wonderful thing.

 

On my 60CS, I hit GOTO and it brings up a list of caches, all by the GC# but I have GSAK drop the "GC" since it's redundant.

 

Clicking on one of the caches I can do a GOTO and the note field will have the information you say is missing. For my Columbia Cache it will say:

 

COLUMBIACACHE T R 2.0/1.5

 

Means the name is "Columbia Cache" (I have it set for smart names of 17 characters), Traditional Regular size, then difficulty/terrain. I only break out the PDA for hints if necessary.

 

When the cache is found, I click the FOUND button on the GPS and it puts it in the calendar, so when I get home I can have a list of each cache found.

[+geodarts]

I have quite a few loaded onto the memory card in separate databases for when I am in different areas and might have time to look for something. I never know when there might be a JohnnyVegas cache in the area.

[+welch]

For those that feel they need to have 500 or even 1000 waypoints loaded into a single GPS geocache file.

 

How many caches have those of you ever found in one day?

 

And why do you feel you need to have 500-1000 caches loaded up for a days worth of geocaching?

12.

 

Because If i have the choice (like the waypoint on the gps, and/or info the palm) I may detour from the estimated route/plan. Maybe I decide I don't like a certain persons caches, or that its raining and I want quick ones, or that I want one that I can be out of the car for more than 20 minutes, or whatever. The options only increase as does the time of trip, length of trip, and of course density of area.

[+Googling Hrpty Hrrs]

I think I used this same answer in the "are you packin' while caching" thread:

 

Better to have em' and not need em', then need em' and not have em'

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have quite a few loaded onto the memory card in separate databases for when I am in different areas and might have time to look for something. I never know when there might be a JohnnyVegas cache in the area.

Hi Erickson, I need to make time to look for some of the new caches in Marin. I am stuck taking it easy for a few weeks per my Dr. ,something to do with a brocked rib I got while looking for a cache. I only hurst when I breath

 

As for the reason for the question. I see lots of cachers posting messages about needing a GPS that will hold large numbers of geocaches in a single file.

 

To me it is easier to work with small file of 100-150 that are kept to about a 5 mile radias. In N. Cal. that will keep you very busy.

 

I do not delete caches from my GPS, I just make a note in GPXSonar and I also change the pushpin on Pocket streats to a happy face. When I rerun the PQ it will not include found caches.

 

It looks like most of us keep lots of caches loaded for the same reason, but I update my PQs on a regular basis to avoid newly archived or disabled caches. But I also run a PQ just for new hides in a 100 mile radias. This one I run every few days to pick caches that are not include on my instant notify search.

 

I do run GSAK but a lot of it I just do not understand

[+Rich the Bushwhacker]

I usually find 5-7 on a typical Sunday of caching in my local area.

 

Typically, I load 850 or so waypoints into my Garmin and refresh it every other week or so. That gets me the caches I haven't found in Rhode Island and 30 miles into Massachusetts. I find this is more convenient than a custom loaded set every time I go caching.

 

With my Palm, I divide the caches by state to make it easier to look them up in cachemate.

[+altosaxplayer]

I have my 60CS loaded with 930 caches (including my 58 hides). These caches are all around my area. I have them in there just incase I get to one of these areas and am able to cache.